Moody described the allegations as "incredibly, extraordinarily untrue" while Solskjaer looked to avoid questions on the subject from reporters on Friday - preferring instead to focus on Saturday's clash with Southampton.

Asked about the reports, Solskjaer said: "I just pass you onto chairman Mehmet (Dalman) about those things.

"I'm not talking about Crystal Palace. Southampton is my job."

Moody - controversially replaced at Cardiff by unknown 23-year-old Alisher Apsalyamov - said he sought to get as much information as possible on Palace's opposition but insisted his work crossed no boundaries.

"That is untrue, completely untrue. Absolutely not - not under any circumstances," he told The Sun.

"That's the whole point of what we do as scouts. To a certain extent you can guess to within one or two players what the team is going to be - everyone can.

"If that information was available, or obtained, would it really have a dramatic effect on a game? No. Winning or losing games in the Premier League is about much more than that."